TheRetroArcade
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Joined: Feb 2026
The expansion will try to give players something to do with all that power next month.
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Big damage numbers and Diablo 4 are practically synonymous at this point. That's the nature of a game where the goal is to multiply your numbers up high enough that nothing can stop you.
Other action RPGs tend to keep things constrained to millions or billions of damage, oftentimes not even showing the damage you deal. Diablo 4, however, is known for players proudly filling their screen with numbers so big you can barely see the monsters.
Players have asked Blizzard to squish things back down to reasonable levels—and it sort of did so in its first expansion—but things tend to scale way back up after a few seasons. Every time someone wants to make fun of the game, the damage numbers are first on their list to bring up, because some people consider it too ridiculous to take seriously.
Associate game director Zaven Haroutunian doesn't think it's a problem at all for Diablo 4, and that the real issue is what players think it implies about the game. "I know there's a lot of strong feelings around this one, and I actually know a lot of it is from fear," he told PC Gamer in a recent interview.
"I worked on Diablo 3 a long time ago. I didn't work on [balancing the game], but I was on a team and I was playing that game alongside everyone else and I kind of saw what the infinite scaling did to the game," he explained. "Not just in terms of what it did to tuning and balance and itemization and all that stuff, but also experientially what that felt like."
Diablo 3 is notorious for having numbers so big that they're effectively meaningless. I wouldn't say Diablo 4 is quite there yet, but it's certainly closer than it's ever been since it came out. But Haroutunian says this concept of "infinite scaling" isn't coming to Diablo 4.
"We're not actually adding torment tiers to extend the scaling of the game."
Next month, the Lord of Hatred expansion will expand Diablo 4's current torment difficulty tier system, allowing you to scale all the monsters up across 12 levels. Some players are concerned that this is a sign of the game copying Diablo 3 and taking the leash off of the damage numbers entirely.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Haroutunian insists that this won't be the case: "We're not actually addi...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
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Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
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GamesRadar+
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Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Big damage numbers and Diablo 4 are practically synonymous at this point. That's the nature of a game where the goal is to multiply your numbers up high enough that nothing can stop you.
Other action RPGs tend to keep things constrained to millions or billions of damage, oftentimes not even showing the damage you deal. Diablo 4, however, is known for players proudly filling their screen with numbers so big you can barely see the monsters.
Players have asked Blizzard to squish things back down to reasonable levels—and it sort of did so in its first expansion—but things tend to scale way back up after a few seasons. Every time someone wants to make fun of the game, the damage numbers are first on their list to bring up, because some people consider it too ridiculous to take seriously.
Associate game director Zaven Haroutunian doesn't think it's a problem at all for Diablo 4, and that the real issue is what players think it implies about the game. "I know there's a lot of strong feelings around this one, and I actually know a lot of it is from fear," he told PC Gamer in a recent interview.
"I worked on Diablo 3 a long time ago. I didn't work on [balancing the game], but I was on a team and I was playing that game alongside everyone else and I kind of saw what the infinite scaling did to the game," he explained. "Not just in terms of what it did to tuning and balance and itemization and all that stuff, but also experientially what that felt like."
Diablo 3 is notorious for having numbers so big that they're effectively meaningless. I wouldn't say Diablo 4 is quite there yet, but it's certainly closer than it's ever been since it came out. But Haroutunian says this concept of "infinite scaling" isn't coming to Diablo 4.
"We're not actually adding torment tiers to extend the scaling of the game."
Next month, the Lord of Hatred expansion will expand Diablo 4's current torment difficulty tier system, allowing you to scale all the monsters up across 12 levels. Some players are concerned that this is a sign of the game copying Diablo 3 and taking the leash off of the damage numbers entirely.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Haroutunian insists that this won't be the case: "We're not actually addi...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?